The History Wars
Education scholar Jonathan Zimmerman on how the US republic lost the ability to understand itself—and how we can help our children recover it.
The Humanist Is In
In a new book, Jason Karlawish GM’99, codirector of the Penn Memory Center, unravels the tapestry of Alzheimer’s science and history, and outlines the medical, social, and ethical challenges that lie ahead.
Black Education Before Brown
Andrew Feiler W’84 documents the Rosenwald schools, which educated hundreds of thousands of African Americans in the Jim Crow South.
Calling It
How John Lapinski and a squad of Penn faculty and students backing him up on the NBC News Decision Desk navigated an election season that was unprecedented—and could set a pattern for the future.
Wellness Warriors
In response to a rash of suicides in recent years, Penn students have fought to take charge of their own mental health, creating new peer-to-peer counseling groups and collaborating more closely with the administration on wellness initiatives. Is it enough to combat the pandemic stresses, burnout, and social isolation that afflict “the loneliest generation”?
In Nursing We Trust
The past year has propelled America’s most trusted profession into the spotlight, with the World Health Organization’s designation of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife followed by the unprecedented and continuing challenges posed by COVID-19. Penn Nursing alumni and faculty weigh in on coping with the pandemic and on nursing’s essential—and expanding—place in the healthcare system.
Heard at Homecoming
Voices from a fall celebration (wait for it) … like no other.
The Museum Prescription
Doctors are worn down by paperwork and long hours, forced to focus on computer screens instead of their patients, plagued by feelings of eroding autonomy, traumatized by a pandemic—and trained to endure suffering with stoicism. What ails physicians bodes ill for their patients. Can the visual arts help revive their well-being? A year-long initiative from Penn Medicine and Philadelphia’s flagship art museums aims to test the theory at internet scale.
The Mother of Coronaviruses
When SARS-CoV-2 struck, Susan Weiss was ready. The decades of work that she and a small cohort of fellow researchers have devoted to coronaviruses, despite limited funding and little respect, have been invaluable in speeding the search for treatments and vaccines. It’s been a rare stroke of good fortune in the current crisis—and a lesson in the importance of supporting basic science in anticipation of future ones.
Lapping Up a Final Act of Love
When the time came to say goodbye to our dog, Brad Bates V’10 arrived at our doorstep. A palliative care veterinarian specializing in in-home euthanasia, he meets strangers every day at their saddest moments—and it somehow gives him strength.
A Reset for Cities?
The novel coronavirus has been especially tough on America’s cities—stripping away cultural and social amenities and spotlighting stark realities of income inequality, inadequate healthcare, and punitive policing. Alumni and faculty experts weigh in on whether and how they can be reimagined for a post-pandemic world.
Connecting the Data
Penn’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice is pioneering a systemic, data-driven approach to criminal justice reform. Its executive director, John Hollway, started with the idea that the law should function more like science—less argument, more truth seeking.
The Future Is Coming—Fast!
In a new book, Wharton professor and “globalization guy” Mauro Guillén breaks down the key factors that will combine to radically transform the world over the next decade (and SARS-CoV-2 is only speeding things up).
Rocking Around the Decades with Rob and Eric
The pandemic has hit pause on 20+20—the planned 40th anniversary tour for their iconic 1980s band the Hooters—but Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian insist the show will go on (20+20+1), while keeping musically busy in the meantime.
Penn and the Pandemic
How the University and alumni have responded to the current crisis.
Seeds of Insight
Rob Rosenheck, CEO of Lord Jones—purveyor of CBD-infused candies, creams, and other products—is high on the cannabis industry’s potential to promote a revolution in economics, health and wellness, culture, and consciousness.